Simeone after elimination in the first round of the Club World Cup: We competed well
Atletico says goodbye with an insufficient victory and the possible farewell of Angel Correa
Despite the 1-0 victory over Botafogo, Atletico de Madrid was eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup. A bitter blow for Diego Simeone's team, who finished the group stage with the same number of points as Paris Saint-Germain and Botafogo, but with an inferior goal difference that ultimately condemned them.
You can watch every match of the FIFA Club World Cup for free on DAZN. Subscribe
“We didn't have the decisiveness that these tournaments demand. If you don't have decisiveness offensively or defensively, you're out,” said the Argentine coach in a press conference, self-critically accepting what happened in the United States.
Atletico went into the match knowing they had to win by three goals to advance to the next round. Although they managed to take all three points, the result wasn't enough to achieve their objective.
“We got the same number of points as the Champions League winners and the Libertadores winners and we missed out. We're close, but we need a little more,” lamented Simeone.
A debut that weighed too heavily
The Atletico team was carrying the 4-0 defeat suffered against PSG in their debut, a scoreline that became an impossible burden to lift. Simeone acknowledged: We couldn't manage that end of the game well with a man down. That result was decisive in such an evenly matched group, where the details made the difference.
“We're sad to be leaving now because we were more excited than what we did,” said the coach, visibly affected. “It hurts because we put in a lot of effort. We competed from less to more and this time we had to be eliminated due to goal difference in a difficult group.”
Beyond the elimination, the coach also spoke about a possible important loss: the departure of Angel Correa. The Argentine is strongly rumored to be a reinforcement for Tigres de Mexico. Simeone didn’t hesitate to praise him: “Angel and I have a connection, direct and clear conversations, he knows how much I love him. He gave us a lot when it was his turn to play or not play.”
And he went further: “We love him very much and hopefully, If he has to go to a Mexican team, I have no doubt that whoever signs him will have an extraordinary player.”